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Hellboy - The Fury #1

Holy shnokey's is Dark Horse and Mignola bringing out the Big Guns for this, the big finale to one of Hellboy's major story arcs. The lines in the sand have been drawn, the armies of light and dark are assembled, and Big Red goes one-on-one with The Queen of Blood.

And while the main fight begins, as usual, epics have other players causing major things to happen. Mignola makes every page and almost every frame count.

With great pain I had to choose only 4 pages of Awesomeness that is issue #1.

*When we last left off, four of the great witches of England had gathered to behold the transformation of the Queen of Blood into the host for the Ogdru Jahad, Hellboy and the BPRD's primary nemesis. In order for safe passage to her castle, Hellboy had to give up one of his eyes to the witch Baba Yaga, another one of his enemies.

Now at the foot of the old castle tower, the remaining three witches who set this all in motion behold the terrible armies of dark creatures assembled to slay all of man, and wonder what they could have done to stop this.

Hellboy presents himself, in Baba Yaga's robe, and is pointed towards the tower where Nimue continues her transformation. The witches point him to the tower, and warn him that the Queen is not alone.

Meanwhile, the girl (Alice Monaghan) who is guarding the sword Excalibur at the inn is surrounded by hundreds of undead knights. Everyone seems to be waiting for something. She is comforted by the innkeeper, and told the story of the original bar owner, who fought in WW I to redeem his family name.

As Hellboy fights an endless army up the flight of stairs, the young soldier's story and near death are told to Alice, and how it relates to her dream of King Arthur and the charge she given concerning the sword. As Hellboy reaches the top, of the stairs, someone else comes down another flight.

The Queen is in weakened, still in mid-transformation into some fantastic dragon, but with every second she grows stronger, and Hellboy is already spent from his ordeal with Baba Yaga and the army guarding the stairs. Defeated, he is made to listen as the call goes out.

At her command the army of dark creatures of the world march forth, but back at the small inn the King has returned. Armed with Excalibur and the Holy Grail, he restores the holy dead knights of England (that guard the inn) to their prime of life.

First four pages of the issue bring you up to speed on everything essential you need to know about Hellboy to know the players. To understand the history and motivation, you do have to start at the beginning, 25 years ago.

That's what I love about the Mignola Hellboy universe, no frigging retcons and there is history and consequences for actions taken years earlier.

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